LAFAYETTE, La. — September is NICU awareness month.
The women's and children's hospitals in Lafayette are competing with other hospitals across the nation in a Read-A-Thon, as a way to celebrate Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month.
At Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) Women's and Children's Hospital, both NICU nurses and family members are reading to babies in the NICU. Participating are 38 babies.
Dr. Kenneth Habetz, a pediatric neurologist at OLOL, and a champion for the UWA Resources for Developing Minds project and early childhood brain development initiatives, says this activity plays a critical role in nursing babies back to health.
He explains, "Part of the development is talking to your babies, socializing with your babies but reading is unique because it introduces new vocabulary elements, so different people's words, words that are strange as a child you start to get that right and it also starts to develop that bond between reader and baby."
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
